Synthesis and Catalytic Applications of Iron-Palladium Nanostructure

This thesis focuses on synthesis, characterization and catalytic applications of iron-based nanoparticles (NPs) in Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions.;Palladium "decorated" Fe FexOy NPs (Fe FexOy/Pd NPs) were prepared making use of established reducing nature and coordinating ability of the Fe FexOy NPs. Fe FexOy/Pd NPs were evaluated and found to exhibit high catalytic activity in a series of Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions in aqueous solution at room temperature in air. The Fe FexOy/Pd system was reused efficiently and only a slight loss of activity was observed after the third reaction. Furthermore, Fe FexOy/Pd has special retention ability for Pd species making leached Pd negligible. The effect of Fe FexOy on the catalytic activity for Suzuki coupling was investigated and no visible effect was found.;Three Fe-Pd nanostructures---"nanodendrites" (ND), nanoparticles (NP1 and NP2) were synthesized by simultaneous thermal decomposition of Fe(CO) 5 and reduction of Pd(acac)2. ND exhibit a dendritic structure with an average diameter of 51.6 nm, while NP1 and NP2 exhibit a pseudospherical morphology with average diameters of 12.8 nm and 17.7 nm, respectively. The three nanostructures all contain crystalline FePd alloy and iron oxides were formed due to exposure to air. They have high catalytic activities toward Suzuki cross-coupling reactions, and ND have the highest activity among them. ND were recycled by applying a magnet and reused three times with some loss of activity which is readily attributed to material handling limitations.